His tone and manner were so natural it didn't even register at first.
"Recommendation?"
"I thought the recommendation season wasn't until later. Since when did our school start making exceptions like this?"
Elena Shen was a little puzzled too, but not overly curious.
Mrs. Jiang's messages kept coming in, reminding her to take care of herself and informing her about tonight's seafood feast, urging her to come home for dinner.
While replying with one hand, Elena casually said to Annie Gu, "Probably some behind-the-scenes pull, or maybe there's a powerful background we don't know about."
Annie nodded. "Wouldn't be the first time."
"But—"
Suddenly, she seemed to recall something.
Smirking, she draped an arm over her best friend's shoulder, raising an eyebrow playfully.
"Elena, now that Senior Chi is gone, looks like your freshly blossoming romance just got snipped."
Elena hit the last key and sent off the message.
Glancing sideways at Annie, she replied coolly, "You gossip too much. If my reputation goes south, it's all on you."
—
Tiansheng Group Headquarters
Zhou Lin greeted Ethan Jiang and Lin Feng at the door.
The moment they entered, Winston Gu, the Gu family's crown prince, sauntered over to the guest sofa like he owned the place, lounging back with one leg crossed, eyes drifting toward his friend behind the desk.
"Seriously, you've become the poster boy for 'work over brothers.' At this rate, once you've got a Mrs. Jiang in the house, we might not even get through the front doors anymore."
Ethan handed off the documents to Zhou Lin.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and shot them both a look. "Cut the crap. Say what you came to say."
Lin Feng, heir to the Feng family, chuckled from the other couch. "Nothing serious. You've been back from overseas two years, and we still can't get a decent hangout. Schedules never align."
Ethan flipped through his planner for the next couple of days. After a beat, he tapped the corner of a page and said, "How about the night after tomorrow? Usual place."
Before Lin Feng could respond, Winston immediately objected:
"What's the point of waiting? "You've got time tonight, don't you?"
To block any excuse, he even pointed at Zhou Lin, who was collecting the rest of the documents, then added quickly:
"I have already asked Eric—your schedule's clear tonight. Don't play hard to get."
Ethan shut the folder.
Glancing at his watch, he picked up his coat, ready to leave.
"Can't do it tonight. I'm picking up Elena."
As he walked off, he offered, "You two go ahead without me. Put it on my tab."
Seeing him leave, Winston stood up as well. "Why the rush? I've got a sister too. Mine and yours are together—let's go pick them up."
Watching the two leave together, Lin Feng was dumbfounded. "Hey, what about me?"
He grabbed his coat and chased after them, completely exasperated.
Especially at Winston.
He had been dragged here to get Ethan out, and now both of them were bailing before he even had time to warm the seat.
Wedging himself between them, he muttered, "It's still early. I'll come along too."
Winston shoved him aside, "We're picking up our sisters. Why are you tagging along? Go pick up your own."
Lin Feng wanted to curse.
He didn't have a sister.
Only a troublesome little brother is currently mooching around in the South City with Adrian Jiang.
In the end, watching his sister-obsessed buddies walk off, Lin Feng snorted and called his useless brother.
—
After processing some early-stage research data, Elena and Annie left Huai University. As they strolled side-by-side, Annie checked her schedule for the next day.
"Tomorrow's Friday and we've got no classes. The weekend's coming too, and we're done with the lab stuff. Want to go shopping?"
Elena agreed readily, "Sure."
Annie put away her phone. "Then tonight—"
Before she could finish, a black, limited-edition Maybach pulled up two meters away.
The window rolled down, revealing Ethan Jiang's refined profile, still striking even under the hazy twilight.
"Elena."
Annie froze in surprise.
Before she could react, another flashy sports car parked smoothly behind the Maybach.
A short honk followed, and Winston Gu leaned out, calling to his sister.
"Annie, over here."
Annie blinked, utterly confused.
She walked up to the silver-gray sports car and looked at Winston through the window.
"Bro, what are you doing here?"
Winston looked like he wanted to knock her on the head.
"What else? I'm here to pick you up."
Annie: "..."
In her memory, this brother had maybe picked her up a handful of times—countable on one hand. Most of the time, he dragged her out of clubs to lecture her.
When she saw Elena already getting into Ethan's car, Annie, still skeptical, stared at Winston like he was setting her up.
Winston tapped the steering wheel impatiently. "Get in, will you? Ethan has already left."
Annie didn't argue further and slipped inside.
Moments later, Winston—the spoiled, rebellious Gu family heir—pulled a seamless overtake maneuver, sliding past Ethan's car on the main road.
Annie was jolted back by the move.
When the dizziness subsided, she grabbed her seatbelt, glanced at the rearview mirror where her best friend was calmly seated next to Ethan, and looked at her brother.
"See how steadily Ethan drives? Calm and composed."
Winston scoffed, glancing sideways at his nitpicky sister.
"And look at Elena—obedient and sweet."
"...!"
Annie was speechless.
In the Maybach behind, not long after they set off, Ethan's phone lit up.
The caller ID read: Mom.
He answered and brought the phone to his ear. "Hi, Mom."
"Ethan, have you picked up Elena yet?"
Ethan glanced at the girl beside him, her eyes on her phone. "Yeah. She's with me."
Then, without a pause, he handed the phone to her.
"Mom wants to talk to you."
"?" His action was so natural, it threw Elena off guard.
From the receiver, Mrs. Jiang's gentle voice filtered through.
Elena hesitated, then slowly brought the phone to her ear. "… Hello, Mrs. Jiang."
"Sweetheart, where are you two now? How long until you're home?"
Elena glanced at the traffic ahead. The sun had set, and rush hour was in full swing. Not quite a jam, but definitely slow.
"Maybe another thirty minutes or so, ma'am."
"Don't rush, take your time. I'll be waiting."
After hanging up, she handed the phone back to Ethan, who took it without missing a beat.
It was as though this had become completely routine.
At a fork in the road, the Gu and Jiang families split off in different directions. Winston flashed his turn signal at Ethan, then veered off.
Half an hour later, Ethan's car pulled into the Jiang family estate.
They entered the courtyard one after the other.
Mrs. Jiang was sitting on the living room couch, flipping through a magazine.
Seeing them arrive, she put it aside and got up to greet them. "You're back?"
"Dinner's already—fresh seafood flown in this morning. Come wash up, it's time to eat."
Ethan handed his coat to Mr. Li.
The dining table was a spread of nothing but seafood.
After the maids served the dishes, they quietly left the room.
Mrs. Jiang pulled Elena to sit beside her and personally scooped a bowl of crab porridge.
"Elena, I supervised this one myself. Give it a try."
Elena smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Mrs. Jiang."
Ethan sat on her other side.
She had barely taken a spoonful when he placed two peeled prawns onto her plate.
She followed the gesture and saw his face under the soft chandelier light, eyes downcast, calm as ever.
Catching her gaze, he asked casually:
"Which crab flavor do you prefer? I'll get it for you."
Across the table, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang exchanged a look but said nothing, taking it all in.
By the time the seafood feast was over, it was already late.
Mr. Jiang asked Mr. Li to bring out some wine and sat with Ethan discuss company affairs.
Elena, having finished her juice, was taken upstairs by Mrs. Jiang to view a collection of jade pieces being featured at an upcoming auction.
After selecting a few and chatting for a while, it was almost nine.
Elena returned to the third-floor bedroom, planning to scroll through Weibo for a bit. But just as she opened the app, a knock came at the door.
She got up and opened it—
Ethan stood there, holding a plate of fruit and a glass of warm milk.
He handed them to her.
"Milk helps you sleep. Drink it while it's warm."
Elena accepted it. "Thank you, Ethan."
He reached out and gently tousled her hair, voice soft.
"Sleep early. Call me if you need anything."